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Lavazza Italian Film Festival 2018

Palace Cinemas presents the Lavazza Italian Film Festival with exquisite films from and about Italy, in Australia.

2018 FESTIVAL DATES
Sydney 11 September - 7 October
Canberra 12 September - 7 October
Melbourne 13 September - 7 October
Adelaide 19 September - 7 October
Brisbane 19 September - 7 October
Perth 27 September - 17 October
Hobart 18 October - 24 October

FILMS
OPENING NIGHT GALA
LORO
AUSTRALIAN PREMIERE
Oscar-winning director Paolo Sorrentino returns to the big screen with this lavish look at media tycoon-turned-politician Silvio Berlusconi and those who surrounded him.

NEW RESTORATION
A FISTFUL OF DOLLARS
This new restoration of Sergio Leone’s Spaghetti Western, sees a lonely gunfighter (Clint Eastwood) set two rival gangs against each other; featuring Ennio Morricone's iconic score.

SPECIAL PRESENTATION
DOGMAN
Winner of Best Actor at Cannes, the hugely compelling new crime thriller from Matteo Garrone (Gomorrah) is a based-on-fact tale of a gentle dog lover driven to take a stand against a local bully.

SPECIAL PRESENTATION
HAPPY AS LAZZARO
Winner of Best Original Screenplay at Cannes, Alice Rohrwacher’s enchanting third film is a magical realist fable of modern Italy, co-starring Alba Rohrwacher (Perfect Strangers).

DOUBLE BILL
FERRANTE FEVER
AUSTRALIAN PREMIERE
This in-depth documentary attempts to uncover not the mystery of Elena Ferrante’s identity, but what it is about her Neapolitan novels that have so captivated the world.

SPECIAL EVENT
LOVE AND BULLETS
AUSTRALIAN PREMIERE
A 17-time international award-winner including Best Film at the Italian Academy (David di Donatello) Awards, this hugely entertaining mafia musical follows a family of schemers whose latest plan is threatened by true love.

CLOSING NIGHT
SUSPIRIA (1977)
Don’t miss the digital restoration of Dario Argento’s seminal 1977 horror-masterpiece Suspiria, this sinister ballet academy-set tale is still the most famous of all Italian horror movies.

Q&A
BALENTES - THE BRAVE ONES
AUSTRALIAN PREMIERE
For the past 50 years, the Italian island of Sardinia has been torn apart by NATO bomb testing, Italian-Australian filmmaker Lisa Camillo shares the stories of those fighting to protect their home.

DOUBLE BILL
TROUBLING LOVE
Adapted from Elena Ferrante’s eponymous novel, in this ambiguous mystery an artist, Delia, returns to Naples after the sudden death of her mother.

COMEDY, ITALIAN STYLE
AS NEEDED
AUSTRALIAN PREMIERE
From the writer of Perfect Strangers comes this Tuscan comedy about Arturo, a 40-year-old chef with a troubled past, who is sentenced to serve as a cooking teacher for young people.

BLESSED MADNESS
AUSTRALIAN PREMIERE
In this smash-hit comedy by Carlo Verdone that grossed more than $12 million at the Italian box office, a shop-owner re-enters the dating world for the first time in 25 years!

COUCH POTATOES
AUSTRALIAN PREMIERE
Multi-award winning director Francesca Archibugi (An Italian Name) returns with this hilarious intergenerational comedy, about a father and his lazy teenage son starring Claudio Bisio.

COUPLE THERAPY FOR CHEATERS
Based on the eponymous novel, this box-office hit comedy follows not a married couple, but a pair of cheaters who end up on a therapist’s couch to resolve their relationship crisis!

I CAN QUIT WHENEVER I WANT 3
AUSTRALIAN PREMIERE
In the final episode of the hit saga, the brilliant academics reunite and must team up with their arch-nemesis to stop a professor’s diabolical plan; starring Edoardo Leo and Valeria Solarino.

JUST BELIEVE
AUSTRALIAN PREMIERE
Edoardo Leo (Perfect Strangers) co-writes and Venice Film Festival award-winner Alessandro Aronadio directs this standout comedy about the power of believing – in yourself!

LIKE A CAT ON A HIGHWAY
AUSTRALIAN PREMIERE
In this smash-hit comedy, two parents from different worlds are suddenly united by a common cause, to stop their teenage children from dating! Winner of the Best Comedy Nastro d’Argento award.

LUCIA'S GRACE
AUSTRALIAN PREMIERE
A huge hit with audiences and critics alike during this year’s Directors’ Fortnight at Cannes, Alba Rohrwacher stars as a land surveyor who is visited by a woman claiming to be the Virgin Mary.

MY BIG GAY ITALIAN WEDDING
AUSTRALIAN PREMIERE
Based on the hit off-Broadway play, it’s a chaotic, heart-warming trip to the altar as a young man travels to his conservative hometown to marry his fiancé; co-starring Diego Abatantuono.

NONNAS ON THE RUN
AUSTRALIAN PREMIERE
Resolved to make their dream trip, Angela and Franca run away from their boring retirement home in Rome to fabulous Venice in this heart-warming comedy starring screen icon Claudia Cardinale.

PUT NONNA IN THE FREEZER
AUSTRALIAN PREMIERE
From the writer of Welcome to the North, Fabio De Luigi stars in this hit comedy as the Tax Police’s most incorruptible officer whose world is upended when he falls for an unlikely scammer!

LIGHTS, DRAMA, ACTION!
A WOMAN’S NAME
AUSTRALIAN PREMIERE
Nina, a young woman who is harassed by her manager chooses to break the silence and rebel in this timely #MeToo drama from director Marco Tullio Giordana.

BOYS CRY
AUSTRALIAN PREMIERE
Two boys who have always existed on the fringes of Rome’s underworld are suddenly pulled into it, in this acclaimed crime-drama that co-stars Luca Zingaretti.

DAUGHTER OF MINE
A young girl is torn between her adoptive mother (Valeria Golino) and her birth mother, (Alba Rohrwacher) in this acclaimed Sardinian-set drama from Laura Bispuri (Sworn Virgin).

EUPHORIA
AUSTRALIAN PREMIERE
Actor and director Valeria Golino (Rain Man), returns with a riveting drama about two brothers forced back into each other’s lives, starring Riccardo Scamarcio (Loro) and Valerio Mastandrea (Perfect Strangers).

MADE IN ITALY
AUSTRALIAN PREMIERE
In Italian singer Luciano Ligabue’s multi-award winning smash-hit drama, based on his eponymous album, a factory-worker examines the life choices he’s made; starring Stefano Accorsi and Kasia Smutniak.

THE GIRL IN THE FOG
AUSTRALIAN PREMIERE
Based on the bestselling eponymous novel, this gripping thriller follows the enigmatic Detective Vogel (Toni Servillo) as he investigates the sudden disappearance of a young girl.

THE GUEST
AUSTRALIAN PREMIERE
Dumped by his girlfriend and finding himself stranded on different couches at friends’ places, Guido tries to transform his drift into an opportunity for a new beginning.

THE LAST PROSECCO
AUSTRALIAN PREMIERE
Set in the hills of Conegliano, Veneto, this comedic mystery follows a seemingly bumbling inspector (Giuseppe Battiston) who tries to solve the death of a local Prosecco wine maker.

THE ORDER OF THINGS
AUSTRALIAN PREMIERE
Winner of the Human Rights Award at Venice, this absorbing drama from the director of Shun Li and the Poet follows an immigration agent torn between the job and his humanity.

THERE’S NO PLACE LIKE HOME
AUSTRALIAN PREMIERE
An unexpected storm strands a family gathered to celebrate their grandparents’ anniversary on the small island of Ischia; in this star-studded highlight from Gabriele Muccino, co-starring Pierfrancesco Favino.

WATER AND SUGAR: CARLO DI PALMA, THE COLOURS OF LIFE
AUSTRALIAN PREMIERE
This loving documentary chronicles visionary Italian cinematographer Carlo Di Palma’s extraordinary work for such directors as Elio Petri, Michelangelo Antonioni and Woody Allen.

WE'LL BE YOUNG AND BEAUTIFUL
AUSTRALIAN PREMIERE
Isabella (Barbora Bobulova) was a pop-star in the 90s, now she sings in restaurants with her son, but their inseparable relationship is about to be tested in Letizia Lamartire’s debut drama.

WHERE I’VE NEVER LIVED
AUSTRALIAN PREMIERE
Regrets of the past are faced as Francesca (French star Emmanuelle Devos) a 50-year-old architect in a loveless marriage returns home to help her father finish a lakeside villa, in this enticing romantic drama.

SPOTLIGHT ON FERZAN OZPETEK

FACING WINDOWS
Winner of Best Film at the 2003 Italian Academy Awards, Giovanna Mezzogiorno and Raoul Bova star in this tale of a woman stuck in a waning marriage and the Holocaust survivor she cares for.

IGNORANT FAIRIES
Ferzan Ozpetek’s 2001 Italian Golden Globe-winner follows a woman who befriends her husband’s lover after she finds out about his affair; starring Margherita Buy and Stefano Accorsi.

LOOSE CANNONS
One of Ferzan Ozpetek’s most awarded films, Riccardo Scamarcio stars in this amiable comedy about a son’s journey home to southern Italy to finally come out to his family.

NAPLES IN VEILS
AUSTRALIAN PREMIERE
An enigmatic affair unravels against the backdrop of Naples, in Ferzan Ozpetek’s new box-office hit mystery starring Giovanna Mezzogiorno and Alessandro Borghi.